The present invention concerns a device for adjustably fastening a belt fitting to an automobile body for a belt of a safety belt system for motor vehicle passengers wherein the device comprises a fitting that can be slidably adjusted manually, with an adjustment component that carries the fitting and is located in a guide that is attached to the automobile body, and wherein the adjusting component in belt stressing direction is locked by means of a locking mechanism that engages automatically by means of a spring and has locking surfaces that are located essentially vertically to the sliding direction. A device of this type is known from DE-OS No. 19 64 123. In the case of this known device, the belt fitting must be pressed down manually and during the adjustment, must be held in the pressed-down position in order to release the lock so that the belt fitting can be adjusted in any of the adjustment directions. The handling of this device is not particularly comfortable. When the fitting is adjusted frequently, the handling of the device can be strenuous and can therefore seem annoying.
The handling is especially strenuous when such a device is used for adjusting the height of a belt fitting that is adjacent to the passenger's shoulder for the purpose of deflecting the belt strap.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved device of the aforementioned type such that its handling is simple and comfortable.
This object is attained according to the present invention by providing in a device of the aforementioned type means for the automatic release of the locking effect when the adjusting component of the device is adjusted in the direction opposite the belt stressing direction.
It is an advantage of the present invention that, when the belt fitting is adjusted in the direction that is opposite to the belt stressing direction and thus opposite to the actual locking direction, the belt fitting can be slid manually without further additional handling.
In the case of a device that is used for adjusting the height of the belt deflection fitting that is adjacent to the shoulder, this considerably facilitates the finding of the height adjustment of the fitting suitable for the respective passenger.
Another advantage is that the present invention is not limited to devices with translationally adjustable components that carry the belt fitting. Thus, a device according to the present invention may have, for example, an adjusting component that is rotatably adjusted for an optimization of the course of the belt strap with respect to the passenger.
The handling of the device according to the present invention is further improved, according to another feature of the present invention in that a push-button is located at the device for releasing the locking effect in belt stressing direction.
The means for the automatic release of the locking effect when the adjusting component is adjusted in the direction opposite the belt stressing direction and a provision of a push-button located at the device for releasing the locking effect in belt stressing direction insure that, in the case of an automatic belt, there is the advantage that the belt fitting of a belt that is already used by the passenger can be adjusted simply and comfortably for an optimization of the course of the belt strap.
According to a further feature of the present invention the locking mechanism of the device has a lock that automatically engages in locking points provided at the device, and the means for the automatic release of the locking effect includes at least one of the lock and the locking points having on the side toward the direction opposite the belt stressing direction a sloped surface that forces the lock out of the respective locking points when the adjusting component is adjusted in the direction opposite the belt stressing direction.
According to a disclosed, preferred embodiment of the present invention the device comprises a guide which has two toothed strips that are arranged at a parallel distance, the toothed gaps of the strips providing the locking points within which a lock engages. The lock is elastically supported at the adjusting component and located transversely to the two strips. The toothing of the two strips in this embodiment has a saw-toothed profile.
Compared to the toothed strip with teeth surfaces that are diagonal on both sides as shown in FIG. 7 of the aforementioned DE-OS No. 19 64 123, the saw-toothed profile of the present invention has the advantage that the locking surfaces of the toothed strips are directed vertically to the adjusting direction of the adjusting component that carries the fitting and thus an accidental unlocking of the belt fitting in the case of jolting stress is avoided.
An additional feature of the disclosed, preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the guide is a rail that is essentially U-shaped in its cross section, with approximately C-shaped inwardly directed end areas of the legs, with the two toothed strips being formed by the free end sections of the respective C-profiles. The cooperating adjusting component has a sliding head that is U-shaped in its profile, which, with the free ends of its legs engages in the C-profiles of the guide and also, in both legs, has guide slits for the lock which are in alignment with tooth gaps or locking points of the strips that are opposite each other. This arrangement of the present invention is advantageous in that it permits the manufacture of essential parts of the device as pressed sheet-metal pieces which can be produced with relatively simple working steps in a cost-effective manner. Also, by means of the C-profile s at the sides of the guide, a high stability can be achieved with a minimum thickness of sheet-metal thereby lowering the resultant weight of the device.
Another important feature of the present invention is that the sliding head of the adjusting component carries a support that is approximately hat-shaped in its cross section with a welding nut being located at the bar of the support for a holding-down bolt of the belt fitting. The support also has a perforation located at one of the legs thereof for the swivel-engagement of a push-button. The push-button is a plastic push-button and includes an approximately T-shaped metal element with extensions that project over the push-button, one of the extensions extending as a tongue to engage in a swiveling manner the perforation at the support and the other extensions forming the lock. In this manner a simple mounting of the adjusting component in the guide as well as of the belt fitting and the push-button at the support of the adjusting component is achieved.
By providing guide slits in the legs of the sliding head for the lock, the push-button that is firmly connected with the lock, is secured in its position without additional measures at the adjusting component. This also makes it possible that the push-button, in a constructively simple manner, can be mounted with one end at the support of the sliding head so that it can be swiveled, and at the other end can be supported by an elastic device. Thus an automatically acting locking mechanism is obtained at little expense which, with a corresponding coordination of the lever arms of the lock and of the elastic device with respect to the swivel bearing point, is of easy motion and therefore easy to operate.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention .